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IN-Q or IN-Query, is the stage name of Adam Schmalholz, an American songwriter and
National Poetry Slam The National Poetry Slam (NPS) was a performance poetry competition where teams from across the United States, Canada, and, occasionally, Europe and Australia, participate in a large-scale poetry slam. The event occurred in early August every y ...
champion from Los Angeles, California. Schmalholz describes his poetry as a reflection of his own experiences and life lessons. Recognized for his ability to bring poetry to pop culture, IN-Q helped establish one of the largest open mic poetry venues in the United States called "
Da Poetry Lounge Da Poetry Lounge is the largest weekly open mic performance space for poetry in the U.S. It is located in Los Angeles at the Greenway Court Theatre. History Da Poetry Lounge was founded in 1998 as "Dante's Poetry Lounge" by poets Dante Basco, ...
," held at the Greenway Court Theatre in Los Angeles. In 2017, he was named one of the top creatives on Oprah's SuperSoul 100 list. He is the first poet to perform at a
Cirque Du Soleil Cirque du Soleil (, ; ) is a Canadian entertainment company and the largest contemporary circus producer in the world. Located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, Montreal, Saint-Michel, Montreal, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul on 16 Jun ...
production and as a songwriter, IN-Q has worked with artists like
Miley Cyrus Miley Ray Cyrus ( , born Destiny Hope Cyrus, November 23, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and director. Regarded as a contemporary pop icon, Cyrus has been recognized for her evolving artistry and image reinventions. She is ...
,
Aloe Blacc Egbert Nathaniel Dawkins III (born January 7, 1979), known professionally as Aloe Blacc (), is an American singer and rapper. He is known for his guest performance on Avicii's 2013 single "Wake Me Up (Avicii song), Wake Me Up", which peaked on ...
,
Mike Posner Michael Robert Henrion Posner ( ; born February 12, 1988) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer from Detroit.For Posner's full name, see He signed with J Records in 2009 and released his debut single "Cooler Than Me" the follo ...
,
Selena Gomez Selena Marie Gomez ( ; born July 22, 1992) is an American actress, singer, songwriter, producer, and businesswoman. Gomez began her career as a child actress, appearing on the children's television series ''Barney & Friends'' (2002–2004), a ...
and co-wrote the official World Cup anthem in 2014.


History

Raised by a single mother in
Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...
, IN-Q admits his introduction to what is now a well-decorated career happened accidentally, "I definitely had no intention of making a career out of poetry. When I was 19, a friend invited me to an open mic called
Da Poetry Lounge Da Poetry Lounge is the largest weekly open mic performance space for poetry in the U.S. It is located in Los Angeles at the Greenway Court Theatre. History Da Poetry Lounge was founded in 1998 as "Dante's Poetry Lounge" by poets Dante Basco, ...
in Los Angeles. The talent was absolutely incredible and it was such an inspiring environment that I never left." Initially, Schmalholz's delivery style was that of an
a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...
rapper Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...
, but he later found that audiences identified his performances more with spoken word poetry and he now considers himself primarily a poet when performing. IN-Q delved deeper into becoming a songwriter for the music industry after receiving a publishing deal with
Rock Mafia Rock Mafia is an American record production team, consisting of Tim James and Antonina Armato who have been active since the early 2000s. They have written and produced 38 top ten singles, and have sold over 50 million records worldwide. They ...
. On his songwriting process, Schmalholz says, "With us, every song is different. Sometimes the artist comes in and we write together, sometimes we collaborate with other songwriters, and sometimes we write in studio and get the song placed."


Awards and accolades

IN-Q's songwriting credits include collaborating on Grammy-nominated and
multi-platinum Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...
tracks for
Miley Cyrus Miley Ray Cyrus ( , born Destiny Hope Cyrus, November 23, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and director. Regarded as a contemporary pop icon, Cyrus has been recognized for her evolving artistry and image reinventions. She is ...
("Forgiveness And Love" on the ''
Can't Be Tamed ''Can't Be Tamed'' is the third studio album by American singer Miley Cyrus. It was released on June 18, 2010, by Hollywood Records, and was her final album with the label; she signed with RCA Records in early 2013. Cyrus wrote and began r ...
'' album),
Aloe Blacc Egbert Nathaniel Dawkins III (born January 7, 1979), known professionally as Aloe Blacc (), is an American singer and rapper. He is known for his guest performance on Avicii's 2013 single "Wake Me Up (Avicii song), Wake Me Up", which peaked on ...
("Ticking Bomb" on the '' Wake Me Up'' EP), and
Selena Gomez & the Scene Selena Gomez & the Scene was an American pop rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 2008, its last lineup consisted of vocalist Selena Gomez, drummer Greg Garman, bassist Joey Clement, keyboardist Dane Forrest, and guitarist Drew Ta ...
("
Love You like a Love Song "Love You Like a Love Song" is a song by American band Selena Gomez & the Scene recorded for their third studio album '' When the Sun Goes Down'' (2011). It was released as the second single from the album internationally. The song was released ...
" on the album, '' When the Sun Goes Down''). IN-Q has appeared on
Russell Simmons Russell Wendell Simmons (born October 4, 1957) is an American entrepreneur, writer and record executive. He co-founded the hip-hop label Def Jam Recordings, and created the clothing fashion lines Phat Farm, Argyleculture, and Tantris. He has p ...
' ''
Def Poetry Jam ''Russell Simmons presents Def Poetry'', better known as simply ''Def Poetry Jam'' or ''Def Poetry'', was a spoken word poetry television series hosted by Mos Def and airing on HBO between 2002 and 2007. The series features performances by estab ...
'', performed for
Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (March 14, 1933 – November 3, 2024) was an American record producer, composer, arranger, conductor, trumpeter, and bandleader. Over the course of his seven-decade career, he received List of awards and nominations re ...
,
Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...
, former US President
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
, and performed a live poetry concert with American musician
Mike Posner Michael Robert Henrion Posner ( ; born February 12, 1988) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer from Detroit.For Posner's full name, see He signed with J Records in 2009 and released his debut single "Cooler Than Me" the follo ...
and indie folk band
Magic Giant Magic Giant (stylized as MAGIC GIANT) is an American alt-rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in early 2014. The group consists of Austin Bisnow (lead vocals), Zambricki Li (viola) and Zang (guitar). Magic Giant released its debut full-l ...
.
Antonina Armato Antonina Armato is an American songwriter, record producer, music producer and businesswoman. She is the co-founder and member of Rock Mafia, a record production/songwriting team. She has worked with Justin Bieber, Zedd, Gwen Stefani, Demi Lov ...
, Tim James, the co-founder of
Rock Mafia Rock Mafia is an American record production team, consisting of Tim James and Antonina Armato who have been active since the early 2000s. They have written and produced 38 top ten singles, and have sold over 50 million records worldwide. They ...
, and Schmalholz won a songwriting
BMI Award The BMI Film & TV Awards are accolades presented annually by Broadcast Music, Inc., honoring songwriters, composers, and music publishers in various genres. Based in the United States, the main pop music award was founded in 1952. The awards inclu ...
for Selena Gomez and the Scene's "Love You Like a Love Song."Adam Levine and Top Songwriters Honored at 61st Annual BMI Pop Awards
at BMI.com; published May 15, 2013. Retrieved April 7, 2017
In 2017, he was named one of the top creatives on Oprah's SuperSoul 100 list. That same year, he wrote and narrated an ad for A&E as a part of the network's marketing campaign that sought to align the A&E brand with culture and diversity. IN-Q was invited by renowned non-profit TED to join the panel of speakers in 2017 for an event hosted at
IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...
that explored the relationship between technology and humanity. His recent videos "The Only Reason We're Alive" and "The Most Important Vote We'll Ever Cast" went viral and have over six million views combined.


Songwriting discography

indicates an un-credited vocal contribution.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:IN-Q 21st-century American poets Living people Songwriters from California Year of birth missing (living people)